Instrument for vaginal treatment



Aug. 22, 1939. o. A. sTRAuss 2,170,222

INSTRUMENT FOR VAGINAL TREATMENT Filed 0G13. 28, 1955 w n INVENTOR aca/U @m Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE INSTRUMENT FOR VAGINAL TREATMENT Oscar A. Strauss, Milwaukee, Wis. l

Application October 28, 1935, Serial No. 47,022

3 claims. (o1. 12a-269) This invention relates to improvements in instruments for vaginal treatment.-

It is the object of the invention to provide a novel and improved and inexpensive medium for l gently but firmly washing and scraping mucous surfaces while treating such surfaces with soap -or other medicated solutions while at the same time irrigating such surfaces with water or the like.

The more specific purposes of the invention will appear from the following description: y

Figure 1 is a view showing a portion of my improved apparatus partially in side elevation and partially in section.

Figure 2 is a detail view taken in on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows the removal of the instrument from the bottle in which it and the medicated solution are stored, the instrument being shown 20 in elevation and a portion of the bottle in section. Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail viewv showing the instrument in elevation during its reinsertion into the bottle, the bottle being illustrated in section. Y

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The applicator or instrument proper comprises a handle or support 5 which is preferably in the form of a tube open at its end and provided with 30 such apertures as that shown at 6. I'he tube carries a collar at `I engaging the interior of a bottle cap 8. The exterior of the tube is threaded to cross section receive a nut 9 to clampingly engage the outside l of the cap, and the'threaded end portion projects beyond the nut for the application of a supplemental cap I0, or, alternatively, the connector II, for a syringe hose I2 which'will be understood to lead from any suitable source of water or other liquid under pressure.

The stick or handle portion of the applicator is preferably bent as clearly shown in the drawing,

and the apertured end remote from the bottle cap is enclosed in a spongy mass I5 preferably having a generally pear-shaped conformation but of 45 highly irregular surface, frequently ridged at I6. The larger end of the sponge body I5 is outermost and such body partially encloses the otherwise open end of tube 5 as shown in Fig. 1.

The spongy mass I5 may comprise natural 50 sponge or rubber sponge or any other suitable material having suiiicient body to perform a moderate scraping function while at the same time having suiiicient softness to avoid inJury to the person. The spongy body I5 is preferably 55 highly porous, and I have found it ideally -xnade of a sponge rubber incorporating wool fiber so that it is not merely porous but also absorptive.

As a part of the equipment I supply a container I'I which may comprise a bottle having a neck portion I8 which is materially smaller than the sponge body I5 on the applicator. In this bottle I may keep a medicated or other soap solution to be applied in the place of the treatment. As the spongy body is withdrawn through the smaller neck I8 of the receptacle, the excess solution is squeezed therefrom as shown in Fig. 3. The relative compression exerted by the neck may be used to determine the amount of medicated solution which will be retained by the spongy body at I5. With the supplemental cap I0 removed from the stem of tube 5, the syringe hose I2 may be attached to tube 5 by means of the connector II and the instrument is ready for use.

After use, it may be washed and the compression exerted by the neck I8 of the receptacle I'I will force the excess water out of the spongy mass I5 during reinsertion into the bottle as shown in Fig. 4.

Where irrigation is not desired,.the hose I2 and connector II may be dispensed with, and in that case, obviously, the handle 5 may be made solid instead of tubular. In any case, the elements shown in Fig. 3 will be sold as a package including the receptacle, the solution therein, and the applicator, including the cap'for the receptacle and the absorbent mass normally in the receptacle and adapted to be squeezed by the neck of the bottle to express absorbed liquid both in entering and leaving the bottle, the latter being particularly important. Assuming that the device be adapted for irrigation in accordance with the preferred form of the invention, the handle 5 will be tubular and provided with a supplemental cap as shown.

I claim:

1. The combination with a tubular handle and a receptacle closure mounted on said handle adjacent one end thereof and beyond which said handle projects to receive a syringe connection, and a spongy mass mounted about the other end of said handle and comprising an applicator said mouth of the container, said tubular handle providing a syringe connection externally of the container closure, and a. separate closure for said syringe connection.

3. A device of the character described comprising the combination with a tubular handle, of an elastic spongy body enclosing one end o! the handle to receive eluent therefrom and comprising m an applicator, said body having its periphery 2 2,170,222 vsqueezed in entering and leaving the restricted grooved to provide well-defined peripheral ridges for the manipulation of the tissue acted lupon, and a syringe connection to said handle for the delivery of extraneous liquid through the applicator during such manipulation, said handle belng provided with a closure for a container in which said applicator is receivable for pre-medication preliminary to its use as an applicator. 

